Flawed Parallel ReasoningDiff: Easy
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: Since people who pay for tax help usually get more money back, you should pay for tax help if you want more money back.
Conclusion: Using a tax preparation service is a good way to ensure a large tax refund.
Reasoning: There is a correlation between using a professional service and receiving a higher average refund compared to those who do their own taxes.
Analysis: This argument confuses correlation with causation. It ignores the possibility that people with more complex (and thus larger) tax returns are simply more likely to seek professional help in the first place—the service doesn't necessarily *cause* the high refund; the high refund potential causes the use of the service. To match this flaw, look for an answer choice where a statistical correlation between two groups is used to recommend a specific action to achieve a result. You want to find another 'if you want X, do Y because people with X usually do Y' structure.
Conclusion: Using a tax preparation service is a good way to ensure a large tax refund.
Reasoning: There is a correlation between using a professional service and receiving a higher average refund compared to those who do their own taxes.
Analysis: This argument confuses correlation with causation. It ignores the possibility that people with more complex (and thus larger) tax returns are simply more likely to seek professional help in the first place—the service doesn't necessarily *cause* the high refund; the high refund potential causes the use of the service. To match this flaw, look for an answer choice where a statistical correlation between two groups is used to recommend a specific action to achieve a result. You want to find another 'if you want X, do Y because people with X usually do Y' structure.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage17.Which one of the following arguments exhibits flawed reasoning most similar to the flawed reasoning exhibited by the argument above?
Correct Answer
A
Choice A mirrors the flaw: it notes that people who invest heavily in stocks generally have higher incomes, then recommends investing heavily to get a high income. That treats a correlation as a causal prescription and plausibly reverses cause and effect (high income enables heavy investing).
Upgrade Your Prep
Ready to go beyond free explanations?
LSAT Perfection is the #1 modern LSAT prep platform, trusted by thousands of students for comprehensive test strategies, advanced drilling, and full analytics on every PrepTest.
Detailed explanations for 59 PrepTests
Advanced drillset builder
Personalized analytics
Built-in Wrong Answer Journal